ﾅ?ﾃ??堋ｦ?ﾅ?ﾃ??堋ｦ窶堙ｱ窶砺?

Hello minna!

Does someone know about this specifically Japanese concept of love called ﾅ?ﾃ??堋ｦ? As far as I know it's a part of Japanese child rearing, basically meaning that a child receiving passively an indulgent love from his parent (usually mother). I was wondering if it's really a true phenomenon in Japan...

Any suggestions?

Well, I was taught ﾅ?ﾃ??堙｢窶堋ｩ窶堋ｷ means "to spoil a child" and that the kanji ﾅ?ﾃ doesn't only mean sweet, but can also mean spoiled. We weren't told anything about this being an intrinsically Japanese phenomenon. But then again, I may be wrong so let's wait for someone else to chime in.

My impression is the opposite to anyone receiving indulgent love "passively" - "amae" to me has always meant that those who do so actively expect to be forgiven for transgressions and be allowed to receive "love" (or be spoiled, essentially) from the person to whom they are ingratiating themselves. This isn't limited to children, and I don't actually think it's uniquely Japanese either. Amaenbou - ﾅ?ﾃ??堋ｦ窶堙ｱ窶天ﾂ is how it's written - is one prone to this behaviour.

I think that anyone who has ever read any sociological works related to Japan has atleast once stumbled over the concept of amae. Takeo Doi's work is probably the most well-known (The Anatomy of Dependence) one.